Edward J. Shourek Photographs
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What’s online?
The online collection contains images taken by Edward J. Shourek between 1913 and 1920 that depict life in the Pittsburgh area as well as his vacations. All images originate from 2" x 5" glass plate negatives. Among these images are glimpses of Shourek's family and friends, his home in Homewood, Central High School, George Westinghouse High School, a farm outside Pittsburgh, the Syria Mosque, and locations in Akron, Ohio and West Virginia where the family vacationed. The images comprise posed portraits as well as candid shots of girls in sewing or cooking class, boys in shop class, buildings, and pastoral views.
What’s in the entire collection?
The entire collection, held by the Archive Services Center (ASC) at the University of Pittsburgh, consists of 196 glass plate negatives. Besides the images available online, the collection also contains shots of family vacations in Buffalo and Niagara Falls, NY.
About Edward J. Shourek
Edward J. Shourek was born in Pittsburgh in June 1895. The Shourek family lived at 811 East View Avenue, part of Pittsburgh's Homewood neighborhood at the time. Shourek graduated from Pittsburgh's Central High School in 1914 and soon after enlisted in the United States Army Corps of Engineers where he worked as a draftsman until 1965. He and his wife Florence Love had one daughter, Marion Shourek Slabaugh, who currently lives in Portland, Oregon. Shourek died in Pittsburgh on February 8, 1966.
As a young man, Shourek's photography hobby captured family life in Pittsburgh during the early 1900s. Subjects of his photographs included the Homewood and East Liberty neighborhoods, Central High School in the Hill District, George Westinghouse High School in East Liberty, family vacations, other families and friends. People identified in the photographs include Ella Shourek, Martha Shourek, Ida Shourek , Julia Shourek, Theodore Shourek, Uncle Luke, Aunt Tillie, Mary Ewart, Kate Flavin, Erma Gill, Billy Goodyear, Bob Holden, Catherine Kohne, Helen Lundquist, Elaine Lundquist, Alfred Mound, Karyn Mound, Joe Parrish, Jimmie Rule, Edward Stack, and Margaret Wightman. The photographs also include images of dogs, cats, horses, squirrels, groundhogs, and farm scenes.